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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Forest Hydrology
Volume 7 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2024.1456283
This article is part of the Research Topic Community Series in Bark-Water Interactions - Volume II View all 3 articles

Effects of woody debris on alluvial sediment differentiation and particulate organic matter accumulation in a mountainous forest stream of the Polish Carpathians

Provisionally accepted
Ewa Słowik-Opoka Ewa Słowik-Opoka 1*Anna Michno Anna Michno 2Agnieszka Jarosz Agnieszka Jarosz 3
  • 1 University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
  • 2 Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Lesser Poland, Poland
  • 3 Chrzanów Forest Inspectorate, Chrzanów, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Woody debris (WD) stabilizes riverbeds, creates habitats, supports biodiversity, and enhances water quality in ecosystems. This study investigates the impact of WD on sediment characteristics and particulate organic matter (POM) accumulation in the Roztoka stream, located within a forested catchment in the Polish Carpathians. The focus is on the influence of different WD types: coarse (CWD, length >1m and diameter >10cm), fine (FWD, length <1m and diameter <10cm), and mixed (MWD, a combination of CWD and FWD) on sediment differentiation and POM accumulation. Stand age, ranging from 20 to over 120 years (in 20-year intervals), was also analyzed as a factor affecting WD structure and POM deposition. Results indicate that MWD had the greatest effect on sediment differentiation, with mean grain size (Mz) ranging from -3.91 phi to -0.95 phi. Stand age significantly influenced POM accumulation, with the highest content (19.51%) observed in age classes III and VI. Older stands (>120 years) had a diminished effect on both WD structure and POM accumulation. This study underscores the critical role of WD in sediment differentiation and provides insights for improving the ecological function of natural streams. Although the findings are region-specific, they have broader implications for similar temperate mountainous forests.

    Keywords: temperate forest, Woody debris, stang age, Alluvial Sediments, organic matter

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Słowik-Opoka, Michno and Jarosz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ewa Słowik-Opoka, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.